Downbeat Lounge Selection - May 2016 (Vol. 7) by E-ROK

Ah! It's a few days into June - but here's the May 2016 Downbeat Lounge Selection (Vol. 7) - featuring 15 tracks I've been enjoying and discovering in June.

Shout out to my favorite tracks in the mix: "Borchi" by Silva, Break Science remix of "Fu-Gee-La", "Toucan Wing" by BoomBaptist, and "Child of the Universe" by Frits Wentink.

As always, this is an eclectic mix of glitch, trip hop, downtempo, chillout and deep house. Enjoy!

Ninja Tune Label Showcase - New Tracks & Mixes in 2013

Ninja Tune has been a "go to" label of mine for many years. It was a key inspiration of mine when I first started to discover "downtempo" music and forms of electronic and international fusion. I had heard a Coldcut track (the artist duo who founded Ninja Tune) on BBC's Radio 1 and Blue Room show back in the early 2000's and I followed the trail...it led me to Ninja Tune.

I subscribe to Ninja Tune on Drip.fm - an amazing service that allows users to pay a monthly subscription to a label an in return get ALL of that labels releases in turn as they come out. Ninja Tune releases music from so many amazing artists, including Bonobo, Emika, DJ Food, Kid A, Toddla, Leatherette and more.

Here's a huge set of amazing tunes and mixes that Ninja Tune has released in 2013 from these artists and more. It's 5 hours of amazing music - vibes ranging from downtempo, trip hop, grime, chillout, lounge house and more:

Sound Spectrum Saturday - Vacationer, Gelka, True Nature, Moduloktopus

Here's the latest edition of Sound Spectrum Saturday - giving you a range of sounds so you can choose the soundtrack to your weekend. Here's a few mixes and singles that I've really been enjoying, ranging from some really primal bass music to signature downtempo and trip hop that Downbeatscape was founded on:

Gelka - Flying Clouds Mixtape - downtempo hip hop and chillout mix



True Nature - On the Sly Anniversary Mix - primal/deep bass mix



Vacationer - Good As New (Data Romance Remix) - downtempo



Moduloktopus - Turkish Clubbish - trap bass track

Sound Spectrum Saturday - Music by Emancipator, Project 46, Waxhole.com, Tru Thoughts and Daddy

I'm back from Costa Rica where I was truly off the grid for two weeks, and I'm ready to share great (and always interesting in SOME way) music. Today's Sound Spectrum Saturday includes music new and old from established and emerging artists. Give it all a try, you never know what you might like...enjoy and remember, stay chilled!

Emancipator - Emancipator is a Portland-based experimental trip hop duo of a production DJ and violinist. They've been releasing amazing independent trip hop on Loci Records (Portland) for several years and they have a new full length album coming out January 29. I saw them live last night in Madison with Mux Mool (Ghostly International, Detroit) and Tor (Loci Records, Portland) and they put on a great show. These tracks are some of my favorite:





TheWaxhole.com Chilled Wax Vol. 1 Compilation / Mix Tape - I'm so glad I found out about TheWaxhole.com - another downtempo blog with similar tone and substance to mine, full of a variety of chillout mixes, styles and artist interviews. The blog has many contributors and is very clean. Not to mention they curate their own mix tapes of great downtempo. Check out their their compilation:



Tru Thoughts, Menagerie "Spiritual Jazz Selector Mix" - Tru Thoughts label (UK) is home to Quantic, Hidden Orchestra and many other artists that fuse jazz, hip hop, and international fusion into a true melting pot of a label. Menagerie is a "spiritual jazz" project on Tru Thoughts, and this is a nice selection/mix of jazz styles, including acid jazz, classical and even some afro-beat in there.



Project 46 - The Killers - Miss Atomic Bomb (Project 46 Remix) - Project 46 (Canada) continues to drop great dance and electro tracks on labels like MonsterCat, along with independent remixes. This latest remix is a harder house version of The Killers' "Miss Atomic Bomb."



Daddy's "Love In The Old Days (Kolour Kult Remix)" - FAIR WARNING: This video is kinda messed up. It's a trip to watch and may be disturbing to some. Daddy is James Franco's band and Kolour Cult just remixed one of his songs, and James Franco directed this video which was just released. Based on James Franco's artistic chops this video is worth checking out - I'm kind of conflicted of wether I like it or not, but in the spirit of sharing different things that I'm listening to I wanted to give you the option to critique and experience it as well. Check out the interview with James Franco about the video and his music project on Vice.com

Sound Spectrum Saturday - DJ mixes by Fort Knox Five (funk), Skream (house), Bohemian Club (downtempo), Nightmares On Wax (dub), DJC-kay (drum&bass)

I'm excited to introduce a new Downbeatscape Feature: Sound Spectrum Saturdays - where I share mixes of different styles of music so you can hear what I've been digging lately. I comb the world of music and share the best. You don't have to waste your time, I do the hunting for you!

I started Downbeatscape to curate the best downtempo and chillout music on the planet and as I do so I find it important to balance downtempo with various musical styles. To fully appreciate downtempo, I believe you must also have an appreciation of other styles -the YIN to downtempo YANG. Considering the balance I want to achieve and my interest and experience as a DJ, I'm introducing Sound Spectrum Saturdays to share many styles of music through the lens of DJing, so you can choose which music style you'd like to hear at the moment - be it uptempo dance, funk, chilled downtempo, ambient soundscapes, and more.

For the first Sound Spectrum Saturday, here's some funk, drum&bass, downtempo trip hop, house oriented dance music, and chilled beach party dub. Enjoy!

Fort Knox Five December Funk Mix - Fort Knox Five is one of my favorite modern funk artists, always delivering amazing original funk while being able to DJ great mixes of funk, hip hop and party music.

Fort Knox Five presents "Funk The World 10" by Fort Knox on Mixcloud

Skreamizm December Mix - Skream, a huge UK-based bass, house, D&B and grime DJ, delivers a great house-oriented mix that drives you forward through the night. I've been listening to this as a workout mix since it came out.



Bohemian Club Christmas Mix - Alistair of the Bohemian Club Label really has something going here. He's cultivating a variety of downtempo-oriented artists on his label by showcasing their new tracks, mixed in with older works, in mixes every month. This is a great downtempo mix that varies from chilled drum & bass to classic oriented ambient folk.



Nightmares On Wax - Wax Da Box December Mix - You can never go wrong with Nightmares On Wax DJ sets. I love the song selection by downtempo dub veteran George Evelyn aka Nightmares On Wax. He's based out of Ibiza usually, playing pool and ocean side sets perfect for chilling out at sunset.



DJC-kay Drum & Bass Mix - DJC-kay has consistently been sharing great D&B mini-mixes with me for several months now. He's consistent, tight and delivers a great D&B sound.